Sixth Engine will now be completely self contained within the firehouse building at 438 Mass. The firehouse building is a completely separate building from 400 Mass even though it is locked on 3 sides by the hi-rise. The idea of marrying the adjacent vacant retail space from 400 Mass to the firehouse for a large ~7900SF footprint is no longer the plan. The square footage of just the firehouse is ~3900SF spread across two floors.

The layout in the firehouse will be a bar on the first floor and the dining room plus kitchen on the second floor. The venue will seat 102 patrons inside and upto 46 on the patio space. The patio seating is reduced from the originally planned 64 seats as Sixth Engine will now have to reserve space for anentrance and loading in front of the firehouse. The original plan had aimed to leverage the 400 Mass loading dock. In a similar vein the rear entrance on H Street for patrons also had to be eliminated.

The Heiserman Group once again was employed to redesign the plan for the space for the reduced footprint. Details from the 2010 posting regarding incorporating firehouse artifacts remain accurate. The core American bistro concept, pricing, and menu also remain the same. I’ll paste those details again below.

American Bistro fare serving lunch on weekdays, brunch on weekends and dinner seven days per week

Plans to position itself as mid-priced neighborhood restaurant and bar

Lunch entrées will be priced from $8 to $19.

Dinner appetizers and sandwiches will be priced from $7 to $16 while dinner entrées will be priced in $17-$27 range.

Sixth Engine is not seeking an entertainment endorsement and therefore does not plan to host live music or DJs nor will they charge cover charges

The new smaller scale Sixth Engine concept at just shy of ~4000SF will be roughly the same size as Town Hall in Glover park which the ownership group also operates. Opening dates are always a moving target – but the current thinking is a late January 2012 soft opening might be feasible.

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Thais Austin has lived in the Mount Vernon Triangle since 2006 with her dog Davis. She is an active community volunteer with the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association, Mount Vernon Triangle CID, and with the DC Association of REALTORS. She brings to the blog a background in journalism, urban planning, and real estate and development. She is a REALTOR with Long and Foster, officing out of both Logan Circle and Bethesda Gateway locations and can be contacted at thais@lnf.com.